Wordless Wednesday

Two Peas in a Pod...

So Evan is home sick from school, again, today. I was dubious that his stomach really hurt, knowing there was going to be LOTS of basketball on tv today (yes, he is only 6 but that was a definite possibility). Well, he acted surprised when I told him about the basketball part and well, let's just say I have unfortunately seen the physical evidence that he has a stomach bug.

So about 11:30am, Evan and Nyah were still watching tv in the living room and I was in the office crying over our taxes. It dawned on me that things seemed quiet. I peeked out to see Evan on the couch asleep but no signs of Nyah.  So I started calling for her but she didn't answer. I looked on the other side of the house... nothing.  As I walked back to the living room, I noticed this:

These two together are just too funny. Maybe, they have finally just exhausted each other out... and it is very hard to exhaust either one.  Maybe she thought this was one more fun adventure her brother was going to take her on so she copied him yet again.

Moments after this picture Evan woke up and I told him to look down so he could see Nyah "sleeping just like you were."

 "I was never sleeping mom," he replied.

Happy Birthday Nyah Pei Pei!

Nyah turns 3 today!

We celebrated last week with family, at the same time we celebrated Price's birthday. Nyah surprised all of us by choosing a princess cake over a Dora cake.

 

She loved opening her presents, including a new princess dress and a new princess movie.

She also loved singing Happy Birthday to herself.  She would sing and blow out the candle and then say, "One more time" and of course, we obliged.  Here she is in action (her last statement is "One more time." The rest is easy to figure out. What she lacks in clarity she makes up for in volume:

We love you princess Nyah! Happy Birthday!

Wordless Wednesday...

Spring Cleaning...

I know it is still technically winter... I am just trying to be optimistic that the nicer weather we have had for a few days is here to stay!

It appears there is a benefit of having a late arriving flight with no time to stop and get reading material before the next flight - I am finally updating my blogs!!! (Doug and I "escaped" for a long weekend to attend a conference in San Antonio).  My 365 blog is updated too!  Rather than try to put together separate posts for all the neglected events of the past month, get ready for a long post, a really long post (I am putting Price’s birthday post in a separate entry so scroll down to read that one!). A little tiding up before the wild next few months.

Basketball and basketball cheerleading just finished up, with the end of the year celebration on the 27^th.  It was a great season.  The kids enjoyed themselves A LOT and while I might have been heard moaning on occasion of having to be in the gym for 5 hours, it was actually pretty calm… kids contained in one area, no driving to shuttle the kids to different fields and gyms, and great coaches all around.

Brynn loved cheering (her first season); it was only the second time I have seem her be super excited about an activity (the other was tee-ball). She would get super excited when her brothers were introduced though, probably to no one’s surprise, she was always spirited and really didn’t need the provided megaphone. 

Evan is quite the ball handler and has a great understanding of the game. He is a lot of fun to watch.  He was encouraged to pass the ball a lot to let others try to score and it was funny to see him tuck the ball under one arm and start directing his teammates on where to go while pointing with his other hand.  When he couldn’t be there the last game, one of his coaches told me they would miss “the captain of the team.” This was his second season.

Price also had a super season (his second) and just like in soccer, is good at directing others  in a subtle and calm manner.  I was so proud of him when he asked to come out for a second time one game because he wanted to let others have a chance to score. His coach wrote such a sweet letter to him at the end of the season (I am making a copy to put in a safe place since he wants the original).

I was nervous for Caleb who decided to switch from wrestling this year to basketball, worried that he would struggle against others who have played ball for years. But he did well. His team never won a game but they improved leaps and bounds between the first and final games and came pretty close in a number of them. Caleb’s strength was defense. He almost always was one of the first players back to defend the goal and rarely seemed to be tired or drained from all the running back and forth. He also would occasionally drive to the basket and when he did, he did it well. Basketball was the only sport I have seen him go out to practice on his own. I could not be prouder of how he did this season!

The kids missed their final basketball game to go to Maw’s (Doug's grandmother's) 80^th birthday party. We drove up and back in one day so the day was long, but the kids were great and it was a fun time. It was a surprise party and though there were a lot of people there, the secret was kept!

We have had lots and lots of snow recently.  I think we have missed 10 days of school. But we have been invited to some GREAT sledding hills so that has been a plus. 

Earlier this month we celebrated the Chinese New Year with our second annual get-together of local families with children from China (or waiting to meet their children from China).  The boys immediately ran off to play basketball while the girls tended to rotate between running around and doing crafts.

Okay, computer working. The relief of a blog updated being experienced. Photography class starting so hopefully decent pictures being taken. A house full of crazy kids. Spring just around the corner.  That all, hopefully, will mean better blogging!!!  I do have a Wordless Wednesday all set up to go for tomorrow so check back!

Happy Birthday Price!

Price turned 8 today!  I offered him one last ride in the car last night in his booster seat, even though we really had no where to go, but he turned me down.  Instead we had a small celebration, with just family, tonight. 

Price will have a bigger friend party later this month… he is thinking he wants a football party so I am waiting as long as I can… like at least until the snow melts. He got an indoor basketball goal from Grandma and money from everyone else so I see some new video games in his future.  We got him a Nint*ndo DSi but I ordered it late so it actually won’t get here until next week. Looks like we will be celebrating all month long at this rate!  I don’t see Price complaining about that though!

Happy Birthday Price!  We love you!

Stopping the Slacking!

Okay, so was all excited to get my computer up and working and yet, still no blog posts!  You would think I gave up blogging for Lent, which is not the case (I gave up sweets and so far, so good).  Part of the problem is I need to get on the phone with our Internet provider to get the wireless connection up and running and that is a process that I dread.  It is really hard for me to be connected to the modem via a cord in the office with the rest of the troops running around the house. The other part is that things have just been busy here and at the end of the day, I am too darn tired and catching up seems overwhelming.  So the "to-do" pile gets bigger.  I am hoping to spend some time in the car tomorrow, while Doug is driving of course, to write some catch-up posts.  Here are a few recent pictures until I get back up to speed...

Caleb taking a shot at basketball.  I do plan on writing a full post on basketball soon.  I probably should write 10 considering the amount of time we have spent at the gym lately.

Brynn peeking back in from the snow covered deck during the dreaded patch-hours!  She hates those patches and everyday we go through the same speech as to why they are important.  Both of us are hoping that on March 18th, the doctor says "No more patching needed!"

Yucky weather has forced basketball indoors. And somehow, the net has ended up in my bedroom. Not sure what the purpose of the glasses is.

I've slacked on my photography, one picture a day, blog.  I actually have taken a picture a day but to be honest, I have not been very inspired lately... all the snow and cold weather doesn't help. This one of Nyah is one of the better ones from recent days. When I post the ones I have taken to the  365 blog, you will see what I mean.  I've resorted to pictures of food and even our driving school car somedays.  UGH.  But great news... I managed to get into a photography class that starts March 8th!  The competition is fierce to get in and I happened to click to enroll at the perfect time. I think Someone knew I needed something to get my focus, no pun intended, back!  I'm very excited; I just hope the kids are willing models or I may have to recruit.

More this weekend... that is the plan anyway.